There are passages in Scripture that make most of us rather
uncomfortable. For example, when God says, as part of His judgment against
Judah, He would cause them to eat the
flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every
one the flesh of this friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their
enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them (Jeremiah
19:9). We cringe when we read such statements. We hope that no one else,
especially our unbelieving friends (or enemies), will find those passages and
ask us about them.
It was reported that the infamous atheist Richard Dawkins
offered to put up money to buy Bibles for children in the schools in England.
He wanted them to read it from beginning to end. He wanted them to see what the
God of the Bible was really like. He spoke with certainty that having read all
the Bible they would certainly reject the God it proclaimed.
Christians, knowing that such thinking exists in the
world, often set out to defend and debate the revelation God has given of Himself in
Scripture. In an attempt to answer objections, they often dull the cutting edges of certain
Scripture to the point that it may as well have not been written. Do you
suppose that God wants us to know Him just as He has revealed Himself? Is it
possible that we actually do not know what we are doing when we attempt to
either conceal harsh sounding Scriptures, or explain them in such a way that
the true nature of God is not revealed? Do we really want to hide the fact that
God is holy and just, and that He will indeed punish the wicked?
If God did not want Himself known in the light that
Scripture reveals Him, He would have had His prophets speak in another way. He
is the one who said, I will cause them to
eat the flesh of their sons… It is true the cause would be by way of the
siege and the siege was due to God lifting His hand of protection from
Jerusalem. Yet, it is clear that God wants us to know He is behind the
judgment. In the book of Jeremiah this point is made in an almost exhausting
manner. It is as if God wants us to know that He will indeed punish sinners!
Hell (gehenna, or the lake of fire) is the eternal
punishment that God has promised to all who are not saved, or rescued, by the
Lord Jesus Christ. Interestingly, gehenna is connected to the valley of the son
of Hinnom found in Jeremiah 19. This is the valley that Jeremiah prophesies
would be turned into a valley of slaughter
(vs. 6). It is the valley that became a perpetual smoldering pit for trash,
dead criminals and animals. Gehenna,
translated hell in the KJV, is the
word Jesus used to refer to the place of eternal punishment.
But hell is future. No one has seen it. Could it be that the
graphic terms of Old Testament punishment against sin are given to assure us
that the graphic terms of future eternal punishment are for real. God told
Israel in graphic details what would come of them if they continued in rebellion.
For the most part they didn’t believe God. Surely, He wouldn’t do such a thing.
God is not like that! Yet, He did do it!
As to the gory thought of cannibalism in a city under siege,
prophesied through Jeremiah in 19:9 - it really happened! Lamentations 4:10, The hands of the compassionate women have
cooked their own children; they became food for them in the destruction of the
daughter of my people. (NKJV) God is letting the world know that hell is no
more beyond Him than the awful judgments predicted and carried out in the OT
time period.
You can’t believe in a God like this? Well, you can make up
your own god. Or, you can deny there is a god. Many have followed their own
imagination and feelings before you and come to various conclusions. God reveals
Himself very clearly in Scripture. It is in your best interest to bow before
Him and heed what He says. Those who do not will be punished with everlasting destruction from His
presence (2 Thess. 1:9). He is a consuming
fire. You need to know this!
Christians, don’t hide the truth concerning God. It may be
uncomfortable. But it is necessary that the world know who the true and living
God really is. If they conclude they cannot believe in a God like this, then
they will have to deal with their conclusions. But if you misrepresent God, and
someone believes in your misrepresentation; you will have God to answer to! God
is not ashamed of His revelation. Should we be?
